Guest Post: A Day in the Life of Cedar Taylor (The Vintage Wife)

Hello! My name is Cedar. I am a mama, a wife, a painter, a cook, a vintage fanatic, and a blogger ( TheVintageWife.com ). May 4th of this year I became a mom for the first time to my darling girl, Lucille Darlene. Since then my life has changed infinitely. I work harder, sleep less, and somehow have yet to completely lose my mind. Every day brings a new adventure, and after two months I finally feel like I have a grasp on keeping our household in somewhat running order.

Most of our day is spent like this. Lucy loves being carried around in the sling. Sometimes she will watch quietly as I go about doing things around the house, other times she will take short baby naps, and sometimes she will talk to me in coos. I absolutely love wearing her. Not only am I able to have my hands free, but it is wonderful having her so close to my body. Wearing her enables me to see all the things that she sees and watch and hear her reaction to things in our day to day life.

Lucy sleeps in the bed with us. It wasn’t planned that way, but after our first restless night home from the hospital she moved in with mom and dad. It is really convenient for nursing. During the night she will give me a couple kicks, I will roll over to feed her and fall back asleep. Dad never even wakes up (well until she needs a change, he does nighttime diaper duty). Most mornings I wake up to her cooing and squirming beside me in the bed. We snuggle for a bit before we get up. This is my favorite time of day, she is definitely a morning person like her mama. I put her in the sling and go help dad get ready for work; making him breakfast and packing his lunch. I also get Lucy cleaned up and fed, and try to get food for myself (though breakfast sometimes comes quite late).

During the week Lucy goes down for two naps. One in the morning and one in the afternoon. While she naps I race around like a mad woman, trying to get as much done in that time as I possibly can. I pick up clutter and fold laundry from the previous day. I plan dinner and start prepping it. I do a load of laundry, usually diapers. I try to work on writing a post for my blog. Certain tasks I will put off until she is awake, and I know I can get them done with Lucy in the sling. Things like sweeping, vacuuming, and putting clutter away are perfect while wearing her, as I don’t have to do much bending or straining.

Some days I am just too tired and need a break from the housework. As soon as baby is down for a nap I kick my feet up on the couch and watch some instant Netflix, read a book, or work on a painting. Unfortunately these days are few and far between, but I know as she gets older I will regain a bit more “me time”.

Every day in the afternoon when Lucy wakes up from her second nap we play. Some days we will take a bunch of silly pictures on the bed, other days I will sing to her and make silly faces, and some days I will turn on a record and we will dance around the living room. She absolutely loves music, and even more loves the constant movement.

In the afternoon before dad comes home I put Lucy down on her play mat while I get dinner ready. She is usually very happy to have some time to sit and play on her own. She lays and chatters away to the dangling toys as I finish up. Often she will watch our hyperactive cats race by with a big grin on her face.

Unless we are leaving the house Lucy spends the day in just her diaper, summers in Southern California can be a bit brutal. Quite honestly though, who doesn’t love seeing a cute little squishy baby body?

Dad usually comes home while Lucy is playing on her mat, though some days she lets me know she would rather be in the sling. We take turns holding her as we eat dinner. It has been ages since we had a meal together. After dinner we put Lucy in her swaddle and walk her around the house for a little bit to calm her down. I usually nurse her to sleep, and then go out to the living room and have some wine to relax.

It has been such a crazy journey thus far. I never in a million years could have imagined the ways my life would change in just two short months. I know the road ahead is ever changing, but there are some important things I have learned along the way:

Everything takes time. No longer can I do a quick run to the store for an item I forgot to put on the list. I have learned to be much more thorough when writing my shopping lists.

Babies don’t go to sleep on their own. This shocked me, I had no idea that I would have to nurse/rock/walk around with Lucy until she fell asleep. I naively thought babies would just fall asleep when bed time rolled around.

Ask lots of questions and ask for help. I can not stress this enough. I am the kind of person that likes to figure things out on my own, and am definitely not one to ask for help. When you are responsible for a little life and really don’t know what you are doing, asking for help is the only thing you can do if you want what is best for your baby.

Chores are not that important. Yes, we need clean dishes, clothes and home, but if they don’t get done they don’t get done. Life moves on.

Above all else baby is the most important thing. I would rather spend an hour staring into her eyes than an hour doing anything else.

What a sweet little girl you have there!
Your post is a great read, Cedar. I was also not fully aware of babies having such a hard time falling asleep before my sister had a baby.
I’ll have to go check out your blog now :)

I'm Gina Munsey, a Jesus-lover and a sojourner; a weaver of words, anchored in hope. I am Mexico-born, Eastern Europe-raised missionary kid who ended up being a Californian in Franklin/Nashville, Tennessee. I live my days full of coffee and adventures while my 8-year-old learns Mandarin Chinese and my artist-husband creates worlds from pixels and light. I'm an editor, a magazine contributor, and a writer who has only completed four chapters of my languishing manuscript. On any given day, you can find me in the middle of [home]school surrounded by stacks and stacks of books. Oh, and the name of this blog? Oaxaca -- wuh-HA-kuh -- is in Southern Mexico, where I was born! (See full bio).

The Oaxacaborn Blog: Rhythms of Classical Gifted Homeschooling

Gina Munsey's blog about homeschooling a gifted only child, work as worship, and how second-generation homeschoolers have shifted home education culture and theology. "Life is a process of becoming, a combination of states we have to go through. Where people fail is that they wish to elect a state and remain in it. This is a kind of death." -Anaïs Nin